On Wednesday, October 26^th, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel. The rocket landed in open territory, near Gadera (28 kilometers south-east of Tel Aviv).

The rocket was fired from a distance of 35 kilometers and was possibly an enhanced Katyusha rocket with a relatively large warhead.

Firing rockets at civilians is an act of terrorism and a war crime under international law. Israel holds the terrorist organization Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip on Israeli citizens.

The continued firing of advanced weapons on Israeli territory proves that weapons smuggling into Gaza is ongoing.

Palestinian Authority President Abbas, who is promoting moves at the UN for membership of a Palestinian state, does not control the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian reconciliation attempts are fictitious.

The rocket fire proves once again that Abbas has no effective control over the territory, a crucial condition for statehood under international law.

While Israel has once again positively responded to the Quartet’s and international community’s call for the renewal of direct negotiations without preconditions, the response to Israel’s willingness to negotiate is terrorism from the Gaza Strip and rocket attacks on innocent civilians.

Israel calls on members of the international community to clearly and publically denounce these attacks.